Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
What to know about the ‘Frankenstein’ variant of COVID-19
Euronews The currently dominant COVID-19 variant in Germany has been referred to as the ‘Frankenstein’ variant. Here’s why. As is the case every year, new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are circulating in Europe. In Germany, the variant XFG is now dominant. It is often referred to in the media as the “Frankenstein […]
Oct 29, 2025
Canada is likely to lose its measles elimination status. The U.S. could be next.
NBC News Neither country has been able to stop continuous spread of the highly contagious virus within the past year. Canada is on track to lose its measles elimination status as an outbreak that began a year ago continues to spread. The United States could follow in the coming months. The Canadian outbreak began in […]
Oct 29, 2025
Louisiana officials waited months to warn public of whooping cough outbreak
NPR When there’s an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, state health officials typically take certain steps to alert residents and issue public updates about the growing threat. That’s standard practice, public health and infectious disease experts told NPR and KFF Health News. The goal is to keep as many other vulnerable people as possible from […]
Oct 29, 2025
COVID-related smell loss may last years
Science News Maybe you can’t detect the scent of grass anymore. Or maybe coffee’s aroma now triggers disgust. After getting COVID-19, your sense of smell may seem persistently off. You’re not alone. Even years after an infection, most people who say they have smell loss do indeed have a dulled sense of smell when formally tested, […]
Oct 22, 2025
Measles 2025: Looking Back and Moving Forward
Contagion It should not have happened, and yet it did. We know better, but we continue to make the same mistakes. Measles (rubeola), the most contagious virus infecting humans (FIGURE 1), remains endemic in many parts of the world. Thanks to highly effective measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines, the virus was declared eliminated in […]
Oct 22, 2025
New measles cases reported in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, amid outbreak
WYFF The South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) is adding four new confirmed cases of measles in Spartanburg County since Friday, bringing the total number of cases in South Carolina this year to 23 and the number of cases in the current outbreak to 20. Two of the cases were among close contacts to known cases […]
Oct 22, 2025
Western Australia Measles Alert
WA Dept of Health There have been 51 cases of measles identified in WA in 2025 year to date, of which 11 have been identified in the current Pilbara community outbreak. Measles typically develops around 10 days after being exposed to the virus, but this can vary from 7 to 18 days. Measles is highly infectious and can spread via airborne droplets to […]
Oct 22, 2025
Slovakia reports H5N1 bird flu outbreak, WOAH says
Reuters Slovakia has reported an outbreak of bird flu on a poultry farm in the northern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Wednesday, as Europe faces a seasonal upturn in the deadly disease. The H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, killed 27 birds […]
Oct 22, 2025
Unvaccinated traveler sparks Sea-Tac measles alert
Axios Seattle A measles case tied to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is the latest sign of the virus’s national resurgence. Why it matters: Health officials warn that measles — once declared eliminated in the U.S. — is making a comeback, fueled by declining vaccination rates. Driving the news: A visitor from Arizona, unvaccinated and traveling from an outbreak area, passed through […]
Oct 22, 2025
Germany: Pet Rat Breeding Facility Linked to Rare Viral Outbreak
Wild Science A 44-year-old woman in central Germany nearly died from a virus most people have never heard of, transmitted by creatures increasingly found in living rooms across the country: pet rats. The culprit was Seoul virus, a member of the hantavirus family that lurks in rat urine, feces, and saliva. After visiting a private […]
Oct 22, 2025